


all the words unsaid

by akanemnida



Category: NU'EST, Produce 101 (TV)
Genre: Character Study, M/M, set after the blurry baekmin pic of june 2018
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-06
Updated: 2018-06-06
Packaged: 2019-05-19 00:05:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,092
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14862894
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/akanemnida/pseuds/akanemnida
Summary: It didn't seem too long ago when the idea of missing Minhyun, the idea of nostalgia being associated with someone who used to be by his side almost twenty-four hours in a single day, seemed laughable.(Or: The fic in which Minhyun and Dongho meet in front of a Hanwoo beef restaurant.)





	all the words unsaid

**Author's Note:**

  * For [overrcome](https://archiveofourown.org/users/overrcome/gifts).



> Yeah, hey -- you, you Baekminist. You. You know the pic that single-handedly revived our dying ship. I had to write a fic centered on it. Of course I did.
> 
> (to miss overrcome: this is so not what you asked for but this is what happened and because you always encourage me to write and to be better--this fic is yours.)

 

 

 

 

 

It's unsettling, the changes that can happen in a single year. It didn't seem too long ago when the idea of missing Minhyun, the idea of nostalgia being associated with someone who used to be by his side almost twenty-four hours in a single day, seemed laughable. Last year, a year and a half seemed like such a short time.  Right now, waiting for the last six months to pass seems almost like waiting for an eternity.

He never thought that he'd miss Minhyun in a way that would make him bolt out of bed at eleven-thirty on a Saturday night just because Minhyun called and told him that the _Hanwoo_ beef in this restaurant near the agency was nice, and that his mom and dad and Sujin- _noona_ were there and maybe you want to say hi, Baekho-ya?

Dongho isn't stupid. He knows how to read between the lines. He knows that—okay, it’s just a maybe, _maybe_ —Minhyun misses him back. So he gets into his car and picks up a couple of his _hyungs_ and drives, drives...

 

 

 

Different.

Minhyun looked different.

 

Not in a bad way—Dongho doesn't think there could ever be a day that Minhyun would look bad. Just. Different. It's the same old Minhyun ( _his Minhyun, wait, does he still have the right to say that?_ ) he sees exiting the restaurant, with dark eyes and heart-shaped lips and the towering height he'd envied so much but...

 

It's a different Minhyun, bigger and broader than the last time he'd seen him. He knows Minhyun has been working out, it's just... it's just the first time they've seen each other since Minhyun told him about his solo stage plans through Kakaotalk and he laughed because he didn't think his best friend would be able to pull through. In hindsight, that was a little bit dumb of him. Minhyun is a man of his word. Minhyun always gets what he wants. He always works his ass off to get what he wants.

But it wasn't just the new body—it was the double eyelids suddenly framing the fox-like eyes he'd liked so much (he's tired, he needs sleep, would Minhyun even get sleep when he has an album to promote?), the ash brown hair color Minhyun had never tried in the six years they've known each other (it looks good, but of course it looks good, but why that color, it's so close to the blonde he hated so much?), the defined jawline (weight loss? a new doctor? are you eating enough, Minhyun-ah?)—

 

"Baekho-ya," Minhyun says, interrupting all the questions in his head and there's a laugh in his voice and maybe Minhyun hadn't changed as much as Dongho thought he did. "I didn't actually think you'd come."

 

_(You called me out here. Why wouldn't I come?)_

 

Dongho shrugs and gestures for his _hyungs_ to enter the restaurant ahead of him. "Haven't eaten dinner. You said the beef here was nice."

"You could've just said you missed me," Minhyun says with a pout while wrapping an arm around his shoulder. The air is too warm, too humid for any type of physical contact. Still, he doesn't shrug Minhyun off.

"Your ego is huge enough as is," Dongho says, smirking slightly. "You... are making the entire internet crash, Hwang Minhyun."

He relishes in the way Minhyun turns slightly pink. "I—yeah. Sorry."

 

He'd be lying if he said he didn't miss Minhyun's half-embraces. Though he'd never been particularly keen on hugs, he'd always had a soft spot for the way Minhyun would hold him, one arm loose around his frame and a hand firmly gripping at his shoulder. If he tiptoed just a little bit, if he tilted his head ever-so-slightly to the left then maybe he'd be able to fit his head in the crook of Minhyun's neck, just like old times...

He stops himself before he ends up doing something completely dumb in front of Minhyun's father, but he thinks he catches Minhyun burying his nose in his—well, he's not _sure_ , he's shorter and he's wearing a cap and he can't exactly look up from this angle. Minhyun has pulled him impossibly closer. He's _really_ not sure how he managed to make small talk with Minhyun's _eomma_ and _appa_ and Sujin- _noona_ with Minhyun lightly tracing circles at his side.

 

—And then Minhyun lets go. He gestures at his family to go ahead, to find their parked car first, that he'd follow in a bit.

 

"Your hyungs are waiting, Baekho-ya," Minhyun says, squeezing his shoulder one last time. Dongho takes a moment to look into Minhyun's eyes and he sees something like disappointment ( _at what, that they're parting?_ ) or longing ( _is this just wishful thinking?_ ) or maybe Minhyun is actually just sleepy and the streetlights were playing tricks on him.

 

"I've missed you," Dongho blurts out. His heart had always been like a dam overflowing words into his mouth and seeing Minhyun—

 

_(not just seeing Minhyun, but finally seeing Minhyun, not in stealth like they did a few times this past year, but out in the open because they had nothing to worry about anymore, Kang Dongho was no longer a liability to Hwang Minhyun's image and he could finally breathe while around his best friend of seven years, thank god)_

 

—after the longest time was like some sort of trigger. It had been way too long that even the briefest moment in the parking lot, with Minhyun's family around and his hyungs waiting for him inside was _enough_.

 

"Missed you too," Minhyun says with a wide smile. "I'll see you around?" Dongho wants to touch Minhyun's new double eyelids, to let his fingertips trace the crinkles at the side of Minhyun's eyes. ( _A sasaeng is probably watching_.) He stops himself.

 

"Let's go for a drive or something. Like old times."

"Mmm, sure. I have rehearsals at Pledis sometimes, maybe I'll bug you when you're in the studio or something—"

"Or you can just call me," Dongho interrupts. "Like what you did tonight. No need for coincidences. I'll make time for you."

 

In a not-so-distant past, this would have been the cue for Minhyun to respond with a teasing remark, or maybe to kiss him to shut him up from all the greasiness. Instead, Minhyun blinks once, twice, and then nods.

 

"Okay. I'll call you. I miss you so much, Baekho-ya."

 

Dongho spins on his heels and enters the restaurant.

 

He tries to ignore the way Minhyun's _"I miss you so much"_ keeps resounding in his mind.

 

 

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Comments and kudos keep me motivated. If you want to reach me, find me on twitter (@akanemnida).


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